Insights for the Month of Virgo

It’s a Mercury retrograde month. For more information or/and to get aligned for it you could try this.

August 22Sun enters Virgo: 12:30 PM EDT
Mercury conjunct JupiterI do believe that Virgo is the enemy of domination. Unfortunately those who are committed dominators know this (even if they don’t know it astrologically) and they do what they can to violate the seemingly weaker and less physically mighty members of society. It’s the back beat of patriarchy. Virgo wants wholeness and celebrates diversity. Domination cannot abide those things. Every year when the Sun enters this sign we turn toward the harvest. What have we grown? What can we do with it? What is useful and what is not? This year’s harvest has been effected by excessive heat and drought in many parts of the land. We will feel this later. Even in the Countries of Privilege it will show its face. Wisdom tells us to deal with what is rather than to wish it were not so. But that is not the same as accepting it as good or normal. This period from now till the 10th of September is very intense astrologically. Possibly we are meant to consider the razor’s edge of dealing with what is even as we know in our hearts it is not OK.Meanwhile Mercury and Jupiter are like clowns at the circus of humanity pointing madly to things relevant and irrelevant with equal gusto. Discrimination is necessary but not bigotry.

August 24Mars conjunct SaturnAggression meets restriction in the sign of vision. Our world could use more of that kind of thing: true visionaries who know how to beat swords into plowshares. But/and there is also the square to Neptune tomorrow. This is one of the intense astrological indications of stress. It lasts (at least) till September 10th. If you’re tuning into it the greatest, wisest restriction would be discipline that fosters loving kindness, toward yourself as well as everyone else. Better to aspire with the heart than to intend with the will. This may be easier said than done but undoubtedly worth the effort.

August 26Mars square NeptuneRestricted aggression meets confusion, deception or possibly awe. If it’s awe then aggression is transformed to devotion. But it’s ever so important that we devote ourselves to life sustaining things. Isn’t it?

August 27Venus conjunct JupiterIt’s always possible to want more. Satisfaction is in the eye and heart of the beholder. Except when it comes to the things we all need such as love, shelter, food, education and time. Simple abundance is the best of today. Watch out for any kind of excess when driven by anxiety. Time, space, patience.

August 29Mercury conjunct Venus
Venus enters LibraThere is this thing about the last degrees of a sign. I think of it as the quantum degree; neither particle nor wave. Mercury and Venus conjoin, like ships passing in a Virgo sea. Then Venus goes one way, into the next sign and Mercury goes the other way, into its retrograde period. A bit of astrological drama. Good for the soul; for art; maybe even for scientific discovery but a lot like nailing Jell-O to the wall for everything else.

September 1Solar Eclipse: New Moon: 09 degrees Virgo: 05:03 AM EDT
Sun square SaturnA big astrological deal: Eclipses tend to ratchet up emotions. One, such as this, that opposes Neptune (tomorrow) and squares Saturn may have even more of that kind of effect. Saturn is about definition and circumstance; an earthy, reality principle. Neptune is everything water. If you could put the water in a container it’s all good but if there is too much water to be contained then it’s a flood. Let me tell you about my basement, in the rains… or let me just suggest that a person might feel quite ‘at sea’ when the walls start weeping, the floor is filling up and more rain is expected. Obviously everyone won’t be taken in a flood today or even this week but in some sense, we are all going to get wet. Containment will require skill and persistence. Watch out for extreme states of elevation or devastation. Practice staying grounded at your center even if the ground beneath your feet seems to shift a bit too much. This aspect has been with us since the end of November, 2015.

September 2Sun opposite Neptune
Mercury retrograde, conjunct JupiterIf there is too much of nothing and it’s bothering you do something to clear it out, or go in another room. Unplug if you must or give things away. You could always try awareness of your breathing or just plain kindness to the next person you see. Overwhelm is a fact of the age we live in. It doesn’t only effect the old and the young.

September 7Sun trine Pluto
Venus sextile SaturnWe often see our lives as ‘always’ and ‘never’. We think we feel bad all the time and we desire to feel good all the time. In truth we fluctuate through time. On a ‘bad’ day there may be many moments when you feel good, or you notice something beautiful or wholesome. You might even taste it. Really taste it. This is an earthy kind of wisdom. Today was made for awareness through our senses, in the gaps.

September 9Jupiter enters LibraI’m thinking this is cause to celebrate something. Jupiter in Virgo over the last year has tried our patience, raised our anxiety, horrified us as to the random way a person can be fortunate or not. There has been wisdom (as is Jupiter’s wont) available if you were willing to learn from experience. In Libra Jupiter promises something a bit more rational, just and balanced. Let us hope.

September 10Saturn square NeptuneThis too is worth being optimistic about. Sort of like the absence of a toothache. Astrologers made a big deal about the ‘cardinal cross’ in 2014 but not so much the mutable T-cross of this past year. Mutable signs tend to be overlooked a lot. This recent cross involved Sagittarius, Pisces and Virgo. Now with Jupiter having left Virgo and Saturn and Neptune parting company not to mention Mars on the move, away from these planetary configurations it’s time for something different, if not completely different. We still need to deal with that which has come to pass in our lives since it began in earnest at the end of November last year. The way forward will involve intelligent risk-taking and reasonable evaluation of situations. This will be very strong at the end of this year. We could practice till then.

September 11Venus square PlutoAll that practice could lead to an obsessive perfectionism today when you can’t always get what you want. The thing is: Do we manipulate to get it, do we wait and see, or just plain make demands? The middle way seems wisest today, if desire is the issue.

September 12Mercury square Mars
Sun conjunct Mercury (retrograde)When Sun and Mercury conjoin during a retrograde we are meant to be still and listen; to hear the voice within or even what others are saying. Not so much what they are saying but what they really mean. It’s a meaningful moment. The fact that Mars, the bully or the breakthrough planet is involved, ups the ante considerably. You might not like what you hear but that doesn’t change what is being spoken.

September 13Sun square MarsThat sense of not wanting to accept the challenge remains. Resistance is sort of futile. Breakthrough comes when we accept what is actually happening. Only then do we seem to know what to do; how to act.

September 16Lunar Eclipse: 24 degrees Pisces 03:05 PM EDTThere are the things we believe in that cannot be proven and then there is matter and circumstance. The tension between the two gives rise to a lot of soul work. We are constantly working at how to live in this world, this very world of joy and sorrow, and also do the work of the soul. It’s an awesome dilemma.

September 17Mars trine UranusBe bold and take a risk, the kind that requires real courage and faith that things could be better. Just don’t expect everyone to agree with you or support your efforts. When we reach for things beyond our grasp it’s always a risk. Sometimes it leads to amazing inventions, other times it only annoys the status quo.

September 18Venus opposite UranusWhether you’re annoying pigs or inventing the greatest thing since sliced bread someone has something to say about it. Although it is important to maintain civility it is also important not to ignore the challenge. Relationship doesn’t mean constant agreement. The best ones make space for seeing things through the eyes of the other once in a while (at least).

September 19Venus sextile MarsJustice, truth: These are things that all people champion but don’t necessarily agree on. (Just listen to election rhetoric). There are many opportunities today to champion the just cause, to right the wrong, to clarify your truth.

September 20Mercury trine Pluto
Mercury will be stationery direct early Thursday morning, just before the Sun leaves Virgo. Tomorrow is the last full day of summer. In a sense you could say we are poised at the end and the beginning. What is that for you? If you’re not certain, pay attention to your seeming obsessions; the things you think about all the time, the longing you have to be doing the thing you would rather do than the thing you are doing. If it’s persistent, maybe it’s telling you something. Rather than avoid it maybe it’s time to engage these energies and see what they are saying. Stick with this through the 23rd at least. Moments when you feel transformation might just be possible are significant.